Die head device



Dec. 12, 1350 c. H. 'KLElN 2,533,943

DIE HEAD DEVICE Filed June 13 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. M ,4 ldw'w Dec. 12, 1950 'c. H. KLEIN 2,533,943

DIE HEAD DEVICE Filed June 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TOR.

W UAAJQ M Patented Dec. 12, 1950 DIE HEAD DEVICE Charles H. Klein, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The National Telephone Supply Company, a

corporation, of Ohio Application June 13, 1947, Serial No. 754,558

- 4 Claims.

My invention relates to compression tools adapted to compress sleeves on wires and more particularly to a die head compression device which is portable for use by linemen to compress sleeves on wires inthe field.

In using a tubular sleeve to connect wires, the ends of the wires are inserted into the op" posite ends of the sleeve and then the sleeve is compressed to secure the wires therein. In the use of such wire connecting sleeves, many devices have been employed to compress the sleeve about the ends of the wires. Because the act otconnecting the wire to the sleeve is usually a field operation, and many times is done high in the air on wires suspended from poles, hand tools of various devices have been developed. for compressing the sleeve about the wires. Actually, hand tools are limited in the amount oi compressive force that can be applied to compress the sleeve. sizes about wire, experience has shown that for many jobs a compression force of approximately To compress sleeves of the larger thirty five tons is required to make a satisfactory safe connection. To make a device to provide a compression force of thirty five tons and yet be portable, is a task which has baffled engineers for a course of years. To use such a device in the field, it must be highly portable even to the extent that a man can operate the device in the air between supporting poles.

Steel of course, has the required strength for a.

compression press, but is too heavy to be easily portable and operated.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to produce a lightweight aluminum die head compression device capable of withstanding sumcient compressive forces for compressing tubular sleeves on the ends of the wires.

'..Another object of my invention is to make a die head compression device of extruded or worked aluminum alloy.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a die head compression device having a channel shaped opening to receive a simple pair of dies, and'having a steel cross pin to hold the dies in the channel shaped opening against the force of a power piston.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a die head compression device adapted for easy insertion of a sleeve and wire ends, and easy removal of the extremely long continuous wire resulting from the joinder of two wires by the device. 5

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the 01 lowing description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved die head compression device assembled upon a baseboard with a suitable fluid pressure pump; Figure 2 is a suitable sleeve blank used to join the ends of two wires;

Figure 3 is an illustration of two wires joined together by compressing the sleeve of Figure 2 upon the ends thereof with my improved die head device; Figure 4 is a suitable set of dies for use with my improved die head compression device;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of my improved die head compression device;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section view of my device as taken along the cross-section indicated generally bythe line i5ii of Figure 5;

- Figure '7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of my improved die head compression device as taken along the line indicated by the line 'l- -i of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is a view similar to the Figure 6 with the locking pin thereof pulled to a release position, whereby the compressed sleeve and connected wires may be removed from the die head compression device.

, In the figures of the drawings, the reference character HJ indicates my improved die head generally. This die head it is adapted for use with a fluid actuating device comprising, a cylinder l1 and piston 16. A pump of any convenient design, such for example as the fluid pump 32 is employed in conjunction with the piston IE and cylinder l1, and the entire assembly is mounted upon a convenient base 35 as illustrated in the, Figure 1. The die head device I!) comprises a base portion H having a first arm portion l2 and a second arm portion I3 extending upwardly from the base portion II. The arms 12 and 43 are substantially parallel to one another and are separated by a slot area [4 therebetween.

The base portion II has a piston chamber 15 therein, and is provided with internal threads 28 which are adapted to threadably engage corresponding threads on the external surface of the cylinder I'l, The piston chamber it opens into the slot area l4, and the piston it is therefore adapted to operate in the bottom portion of the slot area l4. 1 A dieguide 38 on the arm l3 and a die guide 39 on the arm 12 are adapted to slidably receive adie set comprising a top-die 24 and a, bottom die .25. The die set 24 and 25 may be inserted 3 from the top of the die head it and slidably move downwardly toward the top surface of the piston it. A pin 2? extends into the slot area 14 from the arm l3, and is employed as a die stop pin. The bottom die 25 is provided with the vertical groove 26 thereon of suiiicient dimension to pass by the end of the pin 21. Therefore, when the die set 25 and 25 moves toward the piston it, the bottom die 25 will pass the pin 2?, but the top die 24 will be stopped by the pin 2'5. Therefore, when the piston leis moved to its lowermost position as illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings, the pin 2? will hold or support the top die 2 but allow the bottom die 25 to contact the top of the piston It, and therefore separate the dies 25. and 25. When thus sep arated, a connecting sleeve 33 as illustrated in the Figure 2 may be inserted between thetop and bottom dies 2 3 and 25, and wire ends 34 insorted into the sleeve Figure 6 of the drawings illustrates the piston {6 in its lowermost position, and Figure Tillustrates the piston i6 raised to'compress the dies 24 and 25 to compress the sleeve 33 upon the wire ends 34, Of course, the dies 24 and 25 are free to move in the die guides 38 and 39, and therefore I have provideda suitable cross-pin ill to hold the dies in place and resist the force of the piston during periods of operation to compress the sleeves. and an opening 3! in the arm l3 are provided to receive the cross-pin IS. The openings 30 and 3| inthe illustrated embodiment of my invention are substantially cylindrical in form, and are axially aligned with one another with their cominon axes substantially perpendicular to the die path as defined by the die guides 38 and 39. The cross-pin I8 is of tempered steel and is provided with an aluminum handle l9 on one end thereof. It will be seen that the handle I9 is of a size larger than the opening 30, and therefore the cross-pin ill will be stopped from passing through the opening 30.

In the embodiment of the cross-pin l8 as illustrated, I have provideda flat surface 2! on one side of the cylindrical pin l8 toform a flat abutment surface against which the top die 24 may contact. The flat surface 2! ends in an An opening 3!) in the arm 12' 4 6 of the drawings, and lock the dies in the guides.

I have provided the die head ID of worked or extruded aluminum alloy known to the trade as 75 S-T alloy having a tensile strength of substantially 70,000 p. s. i. This material I have found is sufiiciently strong to withstand the several tons of pressure exerted by the piston 56 upon thedies 24 and 25, and is light enough to be readily portable. On the other hand, I have provided the cross-pin l8 of solid steel in order to provide minimum deflection of the pin under the high pressure load exerted by the piston l5. To make the pin of anythin that would have a deflection characteristic under the load would set up-components of force tending to spread thearms l2 and i3 out of parallel and open the slot area 14., The combination of the characabutment surface 46 at the end opposite the handle l9 as is best illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings. In order to prevent the cross-pin [8 from being withdrawn from the openin 30 during operation, but nevertheless assuring fast and easy sliding movement of the cross-pin 18 relative to the openings 30 and 3|,"a flat spring 28 is suitably attached to the arm 12 by means of the screws 23 as illustrated, and is curved to extend into the opening 30 and thereby tightlycontact the flat surface 2| of the crosspin l8. The cross-pin I8 is thereby held iii-a fixed position and the flat surface 2| thereof held square with respect to the top die'2 When the cross-pin i8 is pulled to the position illustrated in the Figure 8 of the drawings, the end of the flat spring 20 contacts the end abutment surface 40 on the cross-pin l8 and prevents withdrawal of the cross-pin l8 further than the position illustrated in the Figure 8. However, this position is quite sufiicient to al low the insertion and withdrawal of the dies 24 and 25 from the die guides 38 and 39. On the other hand, after the dies have beeninserted within the die head it between arms 12. and" IS, the cross-pin l8 maybe slidablymoved to.en-' gage the opening 3| as illustratedinthe Figure teristics of the worked or extended lightweight aluminum alloy die head in, with the rigidity of the steel cross-pin i8 has produced a successful device to withstand the substantially thirty five ton pressure required to compress the sleeves. In operation, I select a suitable set of dies 24 and 25, and insert them within the slot area M by first withdrawing the cross-pin l8 from the openin 3|, and then dropping thedie members 24 and 25 into the die path defined by the die guides 38 and 39. Thereafter, the dies 24 and 25 are locked within the die head In by sliding the cross-pin i8 to bridge between the arms I2 and [3. Before the operating cycle is commenced, the piston I6 is in a retracted position, and the bottom die 25 clears the pin 21 and rests upon the top of the piston 16 at a distance from the die 24 which has been stopped by the pin 21. My improved device is then ready for operation. A sleeve 33 may be inserted be tween the dies 24 and 25, and the wire ends 34 inserted into the end of the sleeve, or the sleeve 33 may be inserted upon one of the ends 34 and then placed between the dies, after which the second end 34 i inserted within the sleeve. Thereafter, the pump 32 is actuated to move the piston I 6 in the direction ofthe die path and therefore actuate the lower die 25 toward the upper" die 24. However, the upper die is securely held against movement by the cross-pin l8. Therefore, the sleeve 33 is tightly compressed between the dies 24 and 25 and thus is coiled tightly about the ends 34 of the wires substantially as illustrated in the Figure 3.

After having applied suflicient pressure for a sufficient length of time to com the sleeve 33 about the wireends 34, the pressure is withdrawn from the piston l5, and the bottom die 25 is allowed to move away from the top die 24. The sleeve and wires may then be moved to coin another portion of the sleeve if the sleeve is longer than the die, and the coining operation repeated. After the sleeve has been coined, the cross-pin is then withdrawn from the opening 3i, and is stopped from being completely withdrawn by contact of the flat spring 26 against the abutment surface, 48. Thereafter, the top die Zamay be withdrawn from the die guides 38 and 39; and the'joined cable removed from the top of the slot area 14. If only a short length of wire is formed by the joined lengths, it is of course not necessary to withdraw the cross-pin I 8 and the top die 24, because the short length may be pulled throughthe dies after the pressure is removed. It is a distinct advantaga'however; to be able to remove the die head device .10 from the "wire, rather than to remove'rthe-wire from the device [0, in the case of long lengthyof wire.

The spring 29 in addition to its function as a stop and as a means to hold the fiat surface 2% square with the top of the dies, also functions as friction means to prevent the pin from bouncing back into the slot area i4 upon the abutment d9 striking the end of the spring 29 during withdrawal. The spring, in addition to the addition to the above features, takes up slack or looseness and holds the pin to the top of the openings 36 and 3 i. Therefore, there will be a minimum slack to be taken up by the piston I6.

Although I have described my invention in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A die head device comprising, a base portion, a first and second arm member extending from and integral with said base portion with a slot area therebetween, a piston chamber in said base portion opening into said slot area, a first die guide on said first arm member, a second die guide on said second arm member, said first and second die guides being substantially paral lel and defining a die path, said first and second is guides being on the inner faces of said arm members, a power piston operable in said piston chamber in said base portion, said piston being adapted to move in the direction of said die path, said first arm member having an opening therethrough, said second arm member having an opening therethrough, said openings having a common axis substantially perpendicular to said die path, a pin mounted to reciprocably slide through said openings from an open position engaged with only said first arm member, to a second position engaged with both said first and second arm members, said pin having a fiat longitudinal surface against which fiat die surfaces may abut under driving force from said power piston, said pin and the openings in the first and second arm members having cooperating arcuate bearing surfaces on the side of the pin opposite said fiat surface, and means on said first arm and said pin cooperating to prevent unintentional removal of said pin beyond the said retracted open position.

2. In a die head device as defined in claim 1, the provision of means on one of said arms engaging and securing the upper die of a two-piece die set substantially against said pin, the lower die being free to be advanced and retracted with respect to the upper die by said piston.

3. A die head device comprising, a base portion, a first and second arm member extending from and integral with said base portion with a slot area therebetween, a piston chamber in said base portion opening into said slot area, a

first die guide on said first arm members, a second die guide on said second arm member, said first and second die guides being substantially parallel and defining a die path, said first and second die guides being on the inner faces of said arm members, a power piston operable in piston chamber in said base portion, said piston being adapted to move in the direction of said die path, said first arm member having an opening therethrough, said' second arm memher having an opening therethrough, said openings having a common axis substantially perpendioular to said die path, a pin mounted to reciprocably slide through said openings from an open position engaged with only said first arm memher, to a second position engaged with both said first and second arm members, said pin having a fiat longitudinal surface against which flat die surfaces may abut under driving force from said power piston, said pin and the openings in the first and second arm members having coopersting arcuate bearing surfaces on the side of the pin opposite said fiat surface, an abutment surface interrupting said fiat surface of the pin,

near the end thereof, and a fiat spring carried by said first arm member and extending into the outline the opening in said first arm member, said pin mounted in said opening in the first arm member with the flat surface thereof and the fiat spring in pressing engagement, and with Said abutment surface engaged with said fiat spring only with the pin retracted to said open position.

4. In a die head device as defined in claim 3, the provision of means on one of said arms e11- gaging and securing the upper die of a two-piece die set substantially against said pin, the lower die being free to be advanced and retracted with respect to the upper die by said piston.

CHARLES H. KLEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 72,463 Dean 1- Dec. 24, 1867 269,033 Ellsworth Dec. 12, 1882 322,471 Otto July 21, 1885 1,236,618 Stagman Aug. 14, 1917 1,560,296 Mahaffey Nov. 3, 1925 1,985,341 Fraser Dec. 25, 1934 2,171,280 Tondeur Aug. 29, 1939 2,182,663 Eby et a1. Dec. 5, 1939 2,235,253 Durant Mar. 18, 1941 2,254,613 Matthysse Sept. 2, 1941 2,294,640 Wallace Sept. 1, 1942 2,390,183 Seligman Dec. 4, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,012 Great Britain Feb. 6, 1904 

